Main Documents

The Freedom Road Socialist Organization condemns in strongest terms
the recent raids and subpoenas to appear at a Grand Jury directed at
anti-war activists in the Midwest. The raids and subpoenas that took
place on Friday, September 24, targeted activists from many groups,
including the Twin-Cities Anti-War Committee, the Colombia Action
Network, the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera, the Palestine
Solidarity Group, and Students for a Democratic Society. Some of these
activists are also members of FRSO.

Overall, seven houses and an office in Minneapolis and Chicago were
raided. The raids were massive, involving more than 70 FBI agents.
Subpoenas were issued to eleven activists in Minnesota, Illinois and
Michigan. Additionally, the FBI contacted and tried to intimidate
activists in California, North Carolina and Wisconsin. Then on Monday,
September 27, three more activists from the Twin Cities Anti-War
Committee were hit with subpoenas.

These raids are an attack on the anti-war movement in the United
States. What ties these activists together is their organizing and
support for the anti-war protests at the Republican National Convention
held in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 2008.

The raids and subpoenas are also an attempt to criminalize the
politics of solidarity with people oppressed by U.S.-backed regimes.
These activists are not terrorists; their only “weapons” are their
voices and their pens. The real terrorists are the Israeli Occupation
Forces and the armed settlers who terrorize the Palestinian people
daily. Israel is the number one recipient of U.S. military aid. The real
terrorists are the Colombian military and their death squads who murder
hundreds of Colombian workers and peasants every year. Colombia is the
number three recipient of U.S. military aid and the home to seven new
U.S. bases.

The FBI has a long history of harassing anti-war activists. They
harassed anti-war and solidarity activists in the 1950s, during the dark
days of McCarthyism. In the 1960s the FBI spied on anti-war activists,
including the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Junior. The infamous
J. Edgar Hoover, long time director of the FBI, led a smear campaign
against Dr. King, helping to create a climate of hate leading up to his
assassination in 1968. Just days before the raids, the Inspector
General of the Department of Justice issued a report criticizing the FBI
for its spying on peace activists in the last few years.

The United States reveals once again that this is a democracy for the
rich and powerful which is willing and able to turn the FBI, police and
courts against working and oppressed people, especially those who
struggle for peace and justice. The government has aimed its attack on
the anti-war movement and international solidarity activists to pave the
way for more wars, occupation and military intervention in the Middle
East, Latin America, Asia and Africa.

The FRSO has always stood firmly on the side of the oppressed nations
and people of the world who are resisting U.S. imperialism and nothing
the U.S. government tries to do is going to change that. Freedom Road
stands in unswerving political support and solidarity with national
liberation struggles. However, the FRSO has never given material
support. National liberation movements will find their material support
in the streets and in the countrysides of their own countries.

We must stand strong as never before and fight back. Sisters and
brothers, now is the time for all of us to set aside our fear and show
our unity and strength. We congratulate the anti-war, anti-intervention
and progressive movements for the outpouring of demonstrations across
the country against the FBI raids and subpoenas. We appreciate the
statements of support from across the country and around the world for
those who have been targeted. A broad united front of organizations and
individuals is coming together.

We must send a clear message to the FBI and to the U.S. government
that no matter what they do, we will stand united and stand for justice!
We demand:

Stop the repression against anti-war and international solidarity activists!